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09-24-2010, 05:41 AM
GoNative, don't be fooled... the written tests was a complete joke... and I mean that. The test was written in English (I believe there was a Russian also taking that test by the way)... and it was written in poor English to boot. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by giving away test questions, but there were questions like: "What do you do when you see a red light". There was nothing specific or difficult about it... it seemed almost like a test to test whether you could comprehend their English or not.
The actual driving part of the test-- however, is quite difficult. As far as I know, there were no real instructions about how to do it correctly. Not only that, there was more emphasis put on "procedure" than actual driving ability. For example, you have to carefully "examine" your car in the "correct" order. Entering the car and getting it started probably takes about a minute and a half of procedures. Once you get going... it is hilarious. A slight bit of speeding will automatically fail you... not "checking" correctly (which is also a procedure that is dangerously long if applied to real life) before you turn also results in a fail. However, driving off the road, appropriately backing up, and starting off again is acceptable. It is arbitrary in my opinion. It is the equivilant of crashing into something and backing up and continuing. Even in CA where the driving test is notoriously a joke that is not acceptable. I was in the car with a guy from another country and he literally drove off the rode on an "S" curve, backed up, and completed the course and passed with flying colors. I made no such mistakes and got a warning for being "too casual and used to driving". Geez, I didn't realize that being used to driving was a problem. I guess I'll brush up on crashing into things and driving off the road before my next test (which is every two years by the way). I can't bitch enough about that experience. I had to take an ENTIRE day off of work to sit around in their version of the DMV's (Department of Motor Vehicles in the US) waiting room all day... from 8AM until 4PM to take a written test that, I swear to god, took me no more than 2 minutes to complete (I'd be willing to bet it was under a minute). After that joke of a written test was completed, I did an "eye test" which took the better part of 10 seconds (again, it sounds like i'm exaggerating, but I'm not). I was then told to reschedule an appointment for the driving version. I was dumbfounded to say the least. Apparently this situation is not much different for Japanese (except the written test and the driving portion are much more difficult). I don't think they make Japanese people wait as much while doing nothing though. Nyororin, I'm curious, does this continue after your visa status is changed? I really hope I don't have to take these driving tests every 2 years for the rest of my life... 
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09-24-2010, 06:08 AM
Yeah so glad I didn't have to go through all that. I know quite a few who have though. As is normal here you have to do it precisely the way they want you to do it rather than it being any true assessment of skill and knowledge.
From what I can tell from other peoples experiences up here there is a lot of pressure to take driving lessons (which are ridiculously expensive) to at least learn the way to pass the driving test. If you don't pay out this money there's virtually no chance whatsoever you'll pass the test on your first or even second try. Friends who've been driving already for over 20 years and are very good drivers and even after plenty of coaching from Japanese friends on the things to remember to do still haven't passed on their first go (unless they paid the few thousand dollars for the driving lessons).
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09-24-2010, 07:27 AM
Whilst we're on the subject of roads and driving how about the ridiculously low speed limits in this country?! The highest allowable speed limit anywhere in Hokkaido is 80 km/h. This is on 2 lane expressways. In Aus roads like this would have speed limits of 110 km/h.
I can understand lower limits in built up areas although some streets in the town I live have speed limits of only 30 km/h and this for streets a couple of km's long with no schools! The default max limit on country roads around here is 60 km/h although most have signs of 50 km/h. In Aus all country roads have default max limits of 100 km/h. Now why are they so low? Have the bureaucrats not realised that cars can actually travel considerably faster and safer these days than say 60 years ago? Also considering that probably less than 10% of drivers actually observe the speed limits what's the point of having them so low? Also up this way it's known that the police will rarely pull you over unless you are doing more than 20 km over the limit. So if few people actually observe the limits and the police don't even really police them why do they remain so damned low? It's not that small a country!
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09-24-2010, 07:33 AM
I got extremely lucky and met a someone who gave me some "inside tips"
 . Even still though, I think it's protocol to just fail a person on their first attempt here. I forgot to mention, you are also expected to memorize your path in their course. No offense to people from countries other than America (and wherever else that has to take these tests), but I think you guys could just as well benefit from learning some of the rules here too.. unfortunately the tests they put you through do nothing to teach the nuances that exist in driving in Japan (some of which are very hard to pick up on by simply just driving in my opinion). It's funny because after you pass the test, you are expected to put the newbie mark on your car for x number of months. What is ironic about this is taht you are not expected to do so for the first year of your drving here (which I did anyways). I think there are serious (potentially dangerous) flaws in their system of assessing foreign drivers.
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09-24-2010, 08:27 AM
I never took the English version of the driving test, but the Japanese version is a SERIOUS exam. As in detailed questions about pretty much every law out there. The English version is made independently by each different area, so I imagine those in big cities with more test takers using English will likely have a different more in depth version. Out in the country and areas with few foreigners it is apparently considered pretty lucky to find a place that offers the test in English at all.
There were 3 parts to the Japanese test and each literally took an hour and a half - it was indeed a full day thing. I went at 8am and actually ended at 2pm. I think only about an hour of that was waiting. The tests were like booklets - not a sheet or two of paper. The actual driving test is to test how well you drive when you know you`re being tested. The thinking is if you can`t manage to follow the explicit rules when you`re being tested, then you likely won`t follow the more important ones when you`re not. I`ve never heard of anyone seriously screwing up and being passed - that guy who screwed up and still passed is probably quite an exception. They failed people I took the test with for scraping the curb when parking at the end, etc. There is no real "order" to the things you need to check - what they want you to do is "assume this is a rental car, and you have no idea what sort of condition it is in - check the things that are most important to your safety and the safety of others on the road." Of course we know their cars are checked up and down every night to be in perfect shape - but they want you to play along and show what you would and should check with a glance if you have no clue if the car is in working order. (Tires, lights, looking to see nothing weird is lodged under the car, confirming the location of all the levers, etc.) This is something that you should be doing in an unfamiliar car, really. Quote:
The first renewal and you are required to take a refresher course and a test again. I think the course was 2 to 3 hours and the test something like 10 minutes for my first renewal. Second renewal was about 25 minutes from start to finish, only an eye test and a brief (5 minutes?) summary of the laws that had changed since the last renewal. If you had any infractions since your last renewal, you will have to do another class and test. It`s not so much to test you as it is a punishment. Also, if you`re over 60 (I think - maybe 65?) you have to do another course and test. If you`ve changed over from an international license or foreign license, then I really have no idea. I got my license from scratch in Japan. Quote:
The tester is supposed to give you directions for the course, but maybe some don`t. It`s usually split into certain specific "obstacles" - like proper procedure for a turn with multiple pedestrians, proper procedure for a rail crossing, zig zag navigation, parallel parking, backing in, shifting for an incline, etc. No matter what the order, each one has a legal procedure to it (which is how they decide who is at fault in an accident - if you didn`t follow the procedure and the other person is, your fault.) Quote:
After the first year, it is illegal to post one on your car. This is apparently because drivers tend to be "nicer" and more forgiving to a new driver... So people took advantage of this by keeping the marks on forever, totally defeating their meaning. Quote:
For example - if you and another car going in opposite directions hit an intersection at near the same time, assuming you want to turn right, if the other car is turning left or going straight it gets the right of way. This is true even if you reached the intersection first. If you can see the other car and there isn`t enough time to turn before it reaches the intersection then you wait. If you and another car hit an intersection of equally sized roads at an angle and you both want to go straight, the car to your left has the right of way. Quote:
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09-24-2010, 08:36 AM
When I renewed my license I only had to sit through a ridiculous video for a couple of hours. I did get the video for bad people because I'd had a speeding fine for doing more than 30 over the speed limit. Anyway I though it would be a serious thing and even got an interpreter along with me to make sure I understood everything. Then nearly everyone there promptly fell asleep about 2 minutes into the video. WTF?
 Anyway I got the stamp to get my renewal....
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09-24-2010, 08:36 AM
Quote:
Even on the expressways, the lanes themselves tend to be more narrow than those overseas (or at least in the US and AUS, don`t know about the UK), which chops the "safe" speed down quite a bit. They`re posted more as a guideline, really, than a limit. If a road is rated to so many km/h and you are involved in an accident when driving above that, it is at least partially your fault. If you`re driving at 120, and a car going 60 swerves over into your lane at a distance that is considered reasonably long enough to stop at the 80 posted speed, but you can`t stop and hit them - you`re partially at fault. It`s kind of like saying "If you drive at this speed and follow all the rules, then you are 'safe' for insurance purposes".
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09-24-2010, 09:15 AM
Frankly that's just bs nyororin. Sure there may well be algorithms but I don't believe they are used in Japan, well certainly not as they are applied just about anywhere else in the world.
In Australia on country roads as I say the default limit is 100 km/h. If there is a curve in the road then they will post a sign with a lower limit for that particular curve. It will vary with the curve. Obviously using some sort of algorithm like you suggest. Once beyond the curve it defaults back to 100. The posted limits though will give you a good idea of the safe limit for that particular part of road. Here you can have perfectly straight sections with no curves for as far as the eye can see and the limit will still be 50 km/h on better roads than I've driven over 100 km/h in Australia. Truly there's no point having a speed limit if you do not enforce it. Create limits that are realistic and police them. Otherwise it creates much more dangerous conditions where you have some few people sitting on the limit and others racing along well over it. Speed limits are not meant to some vague guideline, they should be a true indication of the safe speed to travel. Here they've just defaulted to a ridiculously low limit that doesn't take into account safe limits whatsoever and you have a situation where people just drive at whatever speed they want. That is not safe.
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09-24-2010, 12:24 PM
"Create limits that are realistic and police them. Otherwise it creates much more dangerous conditions where you have some few people sitting on the limit and others racing along well over it. Speed limits are not meant to some vague guideline, they should be a true indication of the safe speed to travel. Here they've just defaulted to a ridiculously low limit that doesn't take into account safe limits whatsoever and you have a situation where people just drive at whatever speed they want. That is not safe.
" Wow, GoNative, I've done some disagreeing with you since I've been on here, but I have to admit that I 100% agree with this one. I wish they'd use that kind of logic everywhere. Nyororin, that was a very insightful post about getting a license in Japan! I appreciate it. Unfortunately judging by what you and GoNative posted and my experience it seems like some things differ from prefecture to prefecture (for foreigners at least). I understand what the test is for, but one of the guys who did his driving test in the same car as me had some serious problems... like I was hoping to death that he wouldn't pass because I was going to have to share the road with him some day. Around here, not passing on the first try (as a foreigner at least) is pretty much a rule. I've NEVER heard of someone who's past their test on their first try. I've talked to many people about this. It just doesn't seem to happen. I've heard of many second tries and a lot of third tries. Believe it or not, I've heard of five before. These are people who were capable of driving in their own countries (since I've never seen them actually drive I can't judge them though). I'll say it again, but my problem with that is there doesn't seem to be a point. The test that I've experienced has no benefits to it as far as learning new laws goes. Not learning those laws and putting yourself on the road can be dangerous, just like the person you've posted about. When I came to Japan I learned only two laws: No turning left on reds *which is an equivilant to right in the USA* and ABSOLUTELY no drinking. Other than that, nothing was covered. Frankly, a lot of that stuff should be covered. Just by simple observation I've learned a few things during my time here, but there are some things I would never have known if people didn't tell me or if I didn't ask. If the 'driving center' here has the kind of time to allow a foreigner to take the same test five times, then they should have the time to explain some rules to people. I think it would be beneficial for Japan to provide driving instructions in foreign languages at their Driving Centers.
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09-24-2010, 04:09 PM
Quote:
The bolded part reminded me of the other algorithm factor that I had forgotten about. Kei vehicles and pedestrian/bicycle traffic. Apparently they have to take kei into consideration when setting the limits, and what is safe for a kei is much lower than what is safe for a normal car. And even if you ignore that, I believe it was said that they`re thinking about people having to drive around lower speed keis... There is also some consideration for people walking or bicycling on the edge of the road. I think there was something like -20km/h off the limit for roads with kei traffic, and an additional -10 for pedestrian/bicycle traffic without a dedicated space for them. I personally hate keis and would never drive one even if I were paid to, but it can`t be denied that there are a lot of them. A while back there was talk of completely blocking them from using the expressways and raising the speed limits to 100~120km/h (and I had pretty high hopes for this) but there was enough backlash to stop them. So it seems like they don`t enforce the rules and leave it up to people to take personal responsibility if they get into an accident while speeding. As in the insurance example I gave. Unless you`re going over the limit to the extreme, or are driving erratically, police will not stop you. Oh, and another random tidbit - apparently the speed cameras will only go off if you`re either going twice the limit or 140+.
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